We need entrepreneurs to seize the opportunities

My mom grew up in Diller, NE. Diller is a small town of about 300 people, and it’s a spot on the map not far from Fairbury.

The Republic Pioneers 4-H
Club, which I’m a part of, visited three businesses in and around the Diller area.

We visited a green dairy, a shrimp farm, and a meat processing plant.

Diller also has a clothing store, bar, and grocery store. In Republic County, we do encourage our kids to at least think about coming back to the area. I think Republic County Economic Development does a lot to help with that.

However, I don’t think kids are shown that the sky is the limit when it comes to ideas for businesses to bring back to the community.

Too often people my age think about what Belleville has to offer them instead of what they can offer Belleville.

The shrimp farm and meat processing plant have been developed in the past few years, while the clothing store popped up literally last week.

If a town with 300 people in it can bring new businesses in (that have been very successful), so can a town of 2,000. We just need to become more creative.

The shrimp farm? It consists of above ground pools meant for humans to swim in. This farm fills such a need, however, because it provides fresh seafood in the midwest. Both restaurants and individuals utilize this family-run operation.

That’s just one small business idea that materialized because one family did some background research.

Think of all the businesses that could pop up like that in our area, especially since so many jobs can be done online now.

With Republic County High School exploring “Career Cruising” next school year, hopefully, students will start figuring out their passions while they’re still in high school.

That way, they can maybe start planning how to incorporate those passions into business ideas in Belleville.

Another idea to get kids more excited for careers in Belleville would be to have more businesses let students shadow them to see what their business does and how it helps make Belleville a better place to live.

Belleville has such a great community. That is evident by so many organizations coming together to celebrate on July 7th.

It would be exciting to continue to see growth in our area because of new business ideas and ventures.

We have the capabilities of providing business opportunities; we just need the entrepreneurs to seize them.

RCED Note: We couldn’t agree more with Lasondra’s statements. The Career Cruising program should complement the Republic County Youth Entrepreneurship Challenge that we have hosted at both schools the last two years. This year we had 68 students from 30 teams developing business plan and pitches for cash prizes from both Pike Valley and Republic County schools. Our county has had two teams qualify for the State YEC competition each year as well going up against students from across the state 1A – 6A.

Munden Garden Mart is looking for a part time seasonal employee. Must be dependable and able to lift 50 lbs.
Prefer someone with knowledge of flower and plants. but will train.
Contact Gary or Barb at 785-987-50125 or 785-527-0852.